Authorities seek motive in San Bernardino shooting

Authorities are looking to determine if a couple accused of killing 14 people in a mass shooting at a workplace holiday party in California had links to Islamic militant groups abroad, US officials say.

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who had a 6-month-old daughter together, were killed in a shootout with police after Wednesday's massacre at the Inland Regional Centre in the city of San Bernardino, a social services agency where Farook worked as an inspector.

Officials in Washington familiar with the investigation said so far there was no hard evidence of a direct connection between the shooters and any militant group abroad. The sources said authorities had raided a townhouse believed used by the couple in search of electronic devices that could show if they had been browsing on Jihadist websites or social media.

"Rest assured that we will get to the bottom of this," President Barack Obama said at the White House, adding that the FBI was taking over the investigation.

CNN, citing law enforcement sources, said Farook had been "radicalised." CNN also said he had been in touch through telephone and social media with more than one international terrorism suspect who was being investigated by the FBI.

Officials from Obama to San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said the attack may have been an act of terrorism but that a motive had not yet been determined.

"It is possible that this was terrorist-related. But we don't know," Obama told reporters. "It is also possible that this was workplace-related."

Farook, a US citizen, was born in Illinois, the son of Pakistani immigrants, according to Hussam Ayloush, who heads the Los Angeles area chapter of the Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Malik, his wife, was born in Pakistan and had been living in Saudi Arabia before marrying Farook, Ayloush said.

The local police chief said 21 people were wounded, four more than previously stated. Ten people remain at two local hospitals on Thursday, two in critical but stable condition, three in fair condition and five in stable condition, the hospitals said.

Burguan said Wednesday's shooting broke out after Farook, a county public health employee, attended the party at the Inland Regional Centre and, at some point, stormed out. He and Malik later returned, both clad in masks and black assault-style clothing, and opened fire, Burguan said. They also placed several bombs at the scene, which police detonated, authorities said.

Burguan said Farook had not known criminal record.

Burguan said the manner in which the couple was equipped indicated there was "some degree of planning" behind the attack.

About five hours after the assault, police spotted Farook and Malik in a vehicle about two miles (3.2 km) away. The couple died in a shootout with police.

There have been more than 350 shootings this year in which four or more people were wounded or killed in the United States, according to the crowd-sourced website shootingtracker.com, which keeps a running tally of US gun violence.